Valkyrie

The Valkyrie is a player role. They are based upon the valkyries of norse legend, who would carry the spirits of fallen warriors to the afterlife. NetHack says of them:

       The Valkyries were the thirteen choosers of the slain, the
       beautiful warrior-maids of Odin who rode through the air and
       over the sea.  They watched the progress of the battle and
       selected the heroes who were to fall fighting.  After they
       were dead, the maidens rewarded the heroes by kissing them
       and then led their souls to Valhalla, where the warriors
       lived happily in an ideal existence, drinking and eating
       without restraint and fighting over again the battles in
       which they died and in which they had won their deathless
       fame.
       [ The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
               Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox
               Wilson ]

All valkyries are female, except when polymorph or an amulet of change becomes involved. Females can lay eggs when polymorphed into another creature. Other than that they have no advantages or disadvantages over males.

Strategy

• Valkyries are powerful melee fighters and have substantially high HP growth; they are also able to #twoweapon. Under normal circumstances, the only strategy needed is to attack enemies directly.
• Because valkyries start with long swords, if one is Lawful, it is exceptionally easy to get Excalibur from a fountain once the character is level 5.
• Sacrificing is more beneficial to valkyries than for other classes, because their first artifact gift is guaranteed to be Mjollnir. This is a useful weapon against major demons, but some consider it nearly useless in the end-game.
• Valkyries with strength 25 can throw Mjollnir, and have a 99% chance of it returning to them immediately. The thrown Mjollnir is one of the most powerful projectile attacks, except against shock-resistant monsters. Because of this, gauntlets of power are a high-priority item for wishing, perhaps even above SDSM.
  • There are some downsides to throwing Mjollnir, however, as when returning from being thrown it has a 0.5% chance of striking the thrower. (This increases to 50% if the thrower is stunned, confused, hallucinating, fumbling, or blind) Since Mjollnir strikes with lightning and lightning explodes rings and wands, it is an extremely dangerous weapon. Even if you don't have anything that can be destroyed, and you have shock resistance, valuable monster equipment may be still be destroyed.
• Valkyries can also become expert at daggers. This fact should not be neglected. Enhancing daggers before long sword is recommended by many experienced players. Daggers become extremely powerful because you can throw up to 3 at once at expert level, doing double the base damage on average per turn. Throwing daggers with expert skill is better than two weaponing, unless one has a double damage artifact.
• The Valkyrie's Quest is fairly easy, with one exception: the first level is mostly ice, and has randomly-placed fire traps. As a result, do NOT walk on the ice. You may trigger a fire trap, which will melt the ice, and you will fall in the water. If you're burdened or surrounded, you'll drown; either way, scrolls and spellbooks not in a bag will be blanked. You'll likely see several quest friendlies die to this.

Starting Equipment

• an Uncursed +0 or +1 long sword
• an Uncursed +0 or +1 dagger
• an Uncursed +3 small shield
• 1-3 Uncursed food rations
• sometimes an uncursed oil lamp

(Results compiled from:

• 4 Human Lawful Valkyries

(more appreciated!))

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Skills

Valkyrie skills
Max	Skills
Basic	Weapons: scimitar, saber, quarterstaff, trident, sling Spells: attack, escape
Skilled	Weapons: pick-axe, short sword, broadsword, polearms, spear, lance Combat: two weapon combat, riding
Expert	Weapons: dagger, axe, long sword, two-handed sword, hammer Combat: bare hands